Chapter 04

VICTOR

I was convinced I had the shittiest fate. There was no wolf out there who was dealt a shittier hand than me. As if finding out my mate was a human wasn't bad enough, she was both a scientist and had a boyfriend. She was in a relationship with someone I assumed she loved, or she wouldn't have been with him. I had been through this once and wasn't about to go through it again. The last time, it was my fault. Sydney, the Alpha of Alphas, had her fated mate but I still chose to pursue her. That ended badly for me.

I rubbed the phantom ache which emitted from the four, blazing red claw wounds going across my chest. It was during the first attack from Quade's—Sydney's mate—pack that I earned these. That was the night I had to give Sydney up. But she ended up with the person she belonged with. Whereas, I ended up alone and taking over one of the largest 'packs' in the world.

There were so many rogues across the world and I was an Alpha to them all. It meant that my pack expanded all over the globe. But I chose to only be responsible for the ones who sort out sanctuary and didn't want to live their lives as feral beasts. 

I stripped down and hid my clothes away next to a tree. In the next beat, my shift rippled through me and I was standing on massive slate gray paws. After becoming an alpha, my wolf had grown exponentially. I was twenty pounds heavier with pure muscler and brute strength. My paws sunk into the dampened earth and a collision of scents bombarded my senses, stronger due to the rainstorm which had passed by earlier today.

I darted through the forest, entering deeper into the most shadowy parts. That was where I had chosen to build. Not many humans ventured this deep into the forest and we were well past any city limits. There were a few small towns to worry about but nothing we couldn't handle. If they stayed out of our way, we would stay out of theirs. That was always how it worked.

I opened a mind link with my beta while keeping my attention on the placement of my paws as I cut through the tall trees, "I'm on my way, how are things going?"

"It's looking good," Saint responded with a chirpy voice, "the plans for the pack house look great. We've already started laying the foundation."

"Alright, see you soon," I said through the link, "by the way, Sinclair got into a bit of trouble in school. He hasn't been able to control his anger as well as I thought he would. He might end up shifting earlier than we anticipated."

It wasn't rare for wolves to shift a few days or even a couple of months before their sixteenth birthday. What was rare was shifting after the age of sixteen. If you didn't get your wolf by then, then it was taken for granted that you would never be able to shift.

"Shit, I'm so sorry. Did you have to go pick him up because I wasn't around," Saint questioned.

I could feel her worry saturate the mind link so I sent a soothing wave to wash her worry away, "I did, and it's fine. He will be fine. If he ends up shifting earlier then we will just bring him into the forest and camp out for a few days."

"He won't be able to attend school if he can't control his anger, big man," Saint played it off as if she were making a joke but I could sense how anxious she was.

I closed my mind link and upped my speed, pushing on my hind legs so I could take bigger leaps forward and eat up more ground. Along with my size and strength, my speed had also increased. I had to train double the number of hours to remain agile on my feet and learn how to control my anger because my beast was suddenly offended much easier than it was before. So, I knew how to teach Sinclair how to control his anger. I knew because of my experience.

The scent of my pack members lingered in the air, solidifying that this land was now claimed by a pack of werewolves. Any supernatural passing by would catch the scent and know to stay clear of us. There would be a few inquisitive ones. Those were the ones I worried about.

They were the reason I had been keeping a close eye on Dea recently, because, I was scared that I would be the reason her life was put in danger.

I only halted when Saint came into view. She threw me black sweatpants and shooed me behind a tree to shift. My wolf huffed in amusement at her. Werewolves were accustomed to nudity but Saint had this level of decorum and respect that no one crossed. She never shifted in front of anyone and always looked away when I needed to shift in front of her.

I trotted behind a tree, shifting within half a breath and shrugging on my sweatpants. A few rogues had come with me, taking up their own residence in the nearby towns and the city until this place was finished. Each of them was trustworthy and loyal to a fault, and that was why I allowed them to run with me. They were currently doing as Saint had said, laying the foundation for our soon-to-be pack house.

"Done stalking for the day?" Saint piped when I rounded the tree.

I reopened the mind link with her, "I don't stalk."

"You kind of do, big man," Saint called out with an amused scoff, "I get it though," her gaze moved to the wolves clearly eavesdropping on our conversation. I hadn't disclosed this to any of them yet and I wasn't planning to which forced Saint to be as vague as possible, "are you going back?"

I was grateful for the mind link, "I am. I shouldn't though. I don't think I can play off bumping into her coincidentally anymore."

"Yeah, once is a mistake. Twice is a coincidence. Three times raises warning bells, doesn't it?" Saint mused, flicking the tip of my nose playfully.

A growl scratched the back of my throat as I snapped my teeth at Saint's fingers, barely missing them by an inch since her reaction speed was timely, "I didn't expect to run into her the second time," I defended through the link, "I felt how anxious she was. It was making me anxious and I just had this urge to get some fresh air, so I did."

Saint's eyes widened and, this time, she responded through the mind link, "It's because you met her almost two weeks ago and neither of you has made an effort to act on the bond so it's drawing you two together. When this happened, it was only a week since you two met. It's been two weeks now, something worse is going to happen and you'll be forced to tell her the truth then."

I scrubbed a hand restlessly down my face, "I don't want to think about that right now. I just came to see how things are going so I can head back. Everyone here should probably head home, too. It's getting late and you need to return to Sinclair."

"We've made good progress today," Saint's voice boomed, drawing everyone's attention, "and I think we will make even better progress tomorrow. Thank you to everyone who is helping. The Alpha really appreciates it."

Numerous eyes zeroed in on me and I offered them a stiff nod. They were used to Saint speaking for me now. Although I could communicate with them all via the mind link, this was just simpler.

"He would, however, prefer if everyone went home to their families and rested. We can continue in the morning," Saint announced, dismissing them.

A buzz of excitement lit the air. Everyone was more than thrilled to leave and I didn't blame them. This wasn't easy work and, although I was their alpha, I was never the type of person to control people. They weren't my slaves and I was not going to treat them the way the past rogue Alpha—Huxley—had treated them.

"Let's go home," I murmured to Saint through the link.

She offered me a curt nod, "Yeah, I need to talk to Sin..." Sadness brushed over her features and remained there, sucking whatever joy she just had like a black hole, "if our parents were here they would have been having this discussion with him and not me."

"I'll be right there with you," my words held a promise.

I watched Saint disappear behind a tree. The sound of shuffling reached my ears and then the cracking and reformation of bones followed until a sandy brown wolf about two heads smaller than my wolf stepped out. She collected her clothes between her muzzle and pivoted on the spot before sitting on her hind legs with her furry back facing me.

I chuckled as she patiently waited for me to remove my pants and then shift back into my slate-gray wolf. When I was done, I opened a mind link with her, "You can turn around now."

Saint lifted herself with a huff until she was on all four paws, "I can't wait till Sinclair shifts so he can run with us," she sent through the link as she took off into the forest.

I threw my head back and let a howl cut through the air. My pack members who had left the clearing earlier were still running through the woods. They reciprocated my howl, sending shrieking flocks of birds soaring into the distance.

"It's one of the best parts of being a wolf," I supplied through the link as I weaved between two trees and leaped over a boulder in my path. Saint was not as fast as me so I slowed my pace to run at her side. Beta's usually flanked their Alpha but I never made Saint feel as if she were lower than me. This was one of the ways I did that.

She nudged her head into the side of my neck playfully as we ran, eliciting an eye roll from me as she yipped happily, "You're such a big softy," Saint called me out, "a gentle giant. A big ass teddy bear. An adorable—"

I cut her off with a menacing growl which vibrated the soft earth beneath our paws, "That's enough, I get it."

She, naturally, ignored my warning, "An adorable, squishy wolf. What I'm trying to say is, why are people so scared of you when you so...nice."

"I'm not nice," I glowered, shaking my massive head to ruffle my thick fur.

"Big man, you're the nicest guy I know. The problem is, you worry about everyone else except yourself."

"Is there a point?" A chilling breeze picked up, carding its tendrils through my coat.

"You need to give yourself just as much attention as you give this pack and everyone else around you. You need to focus on getting your mate. Let me handle this side of things for a while. I know what I'm doing and you know you can trust me. You don't need to constantly check in on us."

I was just about to send my response down the link when a sharp pain sliced through me like the pointed edge of a dagger sinking into my abdomen. The sensation that followed was just as painful and almost blinding as waves of heat rippled over my body. My paws faltered, tripping over a vine in my path and sending me colliding with the ground face first. A whine crawled up my throat but I sealed it there, making sure it didn't escape. 

"Big man?" Saint nudged the side of my body with her head.

I peeled myself lips back, exposing my canines as a warning for her to step away from me. Fire licked up my spine, turning my blood to lava. I wanted nothing more than to claw my skin off my body to alleviate the agonizing burn that flared beneath it.

My vision blurred until all I could see was darkness, but, in that darkness clarity hit me. I knew what this pain was and I deserved it. This was my karma—life coming around in a full circle.

Dea was with her boyfriend, sleeping with him. Fucking him. Unknowing what it was doing to me. The bond had clicked into place the moment I smelt her and then set my eyes on her. I should have known that, sooner or later, I would have felt this.

Before I could snap my jaw shut, my howl of agony reverbed through the forest. Instantly, a cacophony of voices flooded my head as my pack members voiced their concerns. I slammed an iron-clad wall down on them, blocking Saint out in the process.

For the first time since I had known Saint, she shifted in front of me, curling up beside my wolf, "You aren't blocking me out that easily, big man."

I snapped my jaws at her in response.

"I know," she raked her fingers gingerly through my fur, "it's going to be okay. It will pass," her expression was a mixture of worry and anger with taut features, "this is why I said you can't ignore her forever, Victor. You've got to claim your mate, and you have to do it before this gets worse."